Suspect Leads Police On Chase

January 11, 1998|Staff report

LANTANA — A woman wanted by Lantana police in connection with a motel room robbery, led cops on a high speed chase on Saturday which ended when she crashed her vehicle into a second car that overturned and smashed into a highway median.

Kimberly A. Qualls, 27, faces a variety of criminal charges, including reckless driving, open container and seat belt violations as a result of the 12:35 p.m. crash on Interstate 95, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Qualls, of 4838 Gulfstream Road in Lake Worth, was being investigated for grand theft at the Motel 6 at 1310 West Lantana Road in Lantana.

Police were called to the motel by a man who claimed that he had been robbed of his credit cards and $600 in cash by two women visitors to his hotel room shortly before 5 a.m.

The victim later called police to say that he spotted the suspects getting into a two-toned Chevrolet Corvette at the motel. Lantana police tracked down the vehicle and tried to stop it, but the car sped off.

At one point, the suspect's car pulled over, a male jumped out and the vehicle took off again, leading police onto I-95. At 6th Avenue, the northbound Corvette crashed into a 1997 Dodge.

Its driver was unhurt, but Hal Redwine, 62, of Green Village, N.J., was listed in serious condition at a local hospital, police said.